For the convenience of patients and staff at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), two electric cars and a stretcher will be put to use before the end of this week. “We are training the staff to handle them. The vehicles will be put to use in a full-fledged manner,” CMCH dean A. Edwin Joe told The Hindu .
Both battery operated cars will be available at the entrance of the hospital. They will be operated during the out-patient time (four hours) 8 a.m. to 12 noon and will help the aged, differently abled and persons facing mobility issues go to their respective wards. These will be operated free of cost.
“More than 7,000 patients come to the CMCH every day. We have estimated that around 1,000 of them will benefit by these vehicles,” the dean said and added that the hospital planned to buy more such vehicles based on the response.
These battery operated cars were bought at Rs. 8 lakh each with funds generated from the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme, on an instruction from the Director of Medical Education. The vehicles were bought six weeks ago but were not put to use as roads connecting the blocks in the CMCH were in a very bad shape. The roads have been laid at Rs. 40 lakh and are ready for the battery cars.
While the electric cars cannot be operated inside the buildings, the hospital has bought a tailor-made electric stretcher from a Coimbatore-based industry to make mobility convenient and hassle free for patients and hospital staff. The stretcher cost Rs. 1 lakh.
This stretcher was inspired by a battery-operated cart for agricultural purpose that was on display at an agricultural expo held in the city a few months ago.
On the suggestion by the hospital authorities, the manufacturer came forward to work on a stretcher. They sat with the hospital personnel and came out with the design to suit the requirements of a hospital. The stretcher has space for carrying other materials too.
Many women attendants who handle stretchers face difficulty in pushing it along with patients and get help from inexperienced relatives of patients, other hospital staff and strangers to take the patients on the stretcher to other wards. Electric stretchers can be handled by a person and without causing inconvenience to the patient. “The stretcher will be available at the casualty ward. More will be procured based on requirement,” Dr. Edwin Joe added.
